Apparatus for testing turbine stop valves while in service



Patented Nov. 11,. 1952 UNITED- STATi'Es PATENT voFFrcx-z 'APPRATS "-FoR' TESTING rrURB'I-s'ror 'vA'LvEsfWHILe 1N SERVICE Jiinngpram seotia'N. Y., assie'nbjritGeni Electric Company,"a corporation of New' York Application'sptember 11,"1948,Se`rial^No. 48,907 3 pliiis. (011.1374245 an actual emergency conditioniarise., In thecase of a stop valve,l suchtesting -includesthe complete closing of the valve under;operatingfconditions. Heretofore, when testing'thejstop-valves `of 4an elastic fluid turbine'operating under 1o'ad,a1l of the load would `be `instantaneously lost :by fthe turbine during theclosing-of thestop valve. jThe instantaneousloss of loadfby any one lturbine operatinginapower plant-systemjrnay cause severe disturbances in thev system 'whichcannot be compensated immediately and which vmay cause considerable inconvenience if notdamage to both -the-poWer-- station= and ultimate con sumer served Vby these stations, For example, if in a powe'r station fcomprisingfseveral steam turbine generator units, allvoperating under load, it is decidedto testtheestopvalve of ag100,00 0 kw. unit, that load is suddenly lost when the; stop valve shuts. :Immediately-fthe'blowoivalve on the lboiler supplying Asteam'to -the-turbine 'may blow causingy asubstantial loss of'ste'am due to the pressure whichfis'suddenly'built up therein. Then since 100,000 kw. of load has suddenlyb'e'en lost by the'station, the load m'ay 'start swinging or transferring from 'one unit toA` another` in kthe station, fro'rnl one station' to TanotherY inthe' systern, or since there'ma'ybe tielines'connecting severalv systems, from one'syste'm'to'another. :This swinging of load maybe extremely serious' in that the speed of 'the unitiandhencethefrequencyof the load output will s'Wing-With'the' load fand severe disturbances'in the'sys'tern which 'cannot require constant frequency synchronous ,f motor power su'chas paper millsys-t'eel rollingmills;vv etc. By contrast,` Athe 'stop' Vvalves of `anfjelastic luid turbine power plant in'acc'ordance'with the.'p're's ent invention may bei-tested"softlfiat'1tlfxe `aforementioned disadvantages v' yheretofore Vaccompanying such-tests;'arefeliminated Accordingly; -an f object 'goffthe invention is vto provide a new Varrar 1gementfor tes-ting the stop valves and associated emergency apparatus of an elastic-Huid turbine p o. er plant durinsopreon under load in a mannersuch-that'theoperation willhe @Qntinuous with- 11eme 0f 10,21?

Othernbiects and-@fefslteesfwillfbeepptfent from; the L.f ollowirie.-@1.fisgi-rtio.i1 teken -innn'ection with the accompanying drawing`. .in' .which Fig, 1- is, @diagrammatic'representation tot an elastimuidaturbine power-p1a1-.1temb-9dying the prese n t;invention g and Fig. Aindicates diagram- ,supplied with ,elasnicfmidisu 1a$- -Steam, frfm a boiler (not- .shown) throughconduits I0, -Il containing leme rgency--stop valves- 12, I3. 'Althoi'gh I have shown' onlytwo-stop valvesit` will be understood by those vislilled i ri theart Vthrata greater number of valves .may be 'useeiw'thot departing from :the-invention. Condllls I0 and fl IV .are arrangedl in; parallellowf vrelation by the provision of branch conduits 10a, vI Ia connecting' the former conduits with lower chambenf Thus steam may be supplied tochambers lar'irlS through etheryor both conduits I0,v H and the respective branch conduitsIDa, I. I'a.l

Inlet valves Bh'lhave stems .|4, `l5,respectively, which are connectedby a linkage `sy'ste'mi'n `z llfway L suchfthatf any'iriovementof 4Valveli Visftransmitted to vallveh- I .and a -like movement there'o' is produced. Theflinka'ge vsystem. isf represeitd diagrammaticallyin thelprse'nt-embodimentand' includs rigid I'arms i6, I1 each of which 'isXed at oney end to stems 10,1Y f5, The oppositjends. of arms ll`6', I1 are connected by'links I 8 and |:9toopposite ends. of vlink 20" pivotally'supported jat its cen-ter.` Thus, itinay be observedthatiffvalve 6v movesftowardf'the ',open-Qpositin, Val-ve 'will do likewiseen'd conversely, a c'los'ing'fm'ovement of valve produces a closinggmovement fvalveV 1.

Valves- 6 and A'L'are` aeti1` `ated yby afgoverning mechanism l includesl a fspeed responsive governor Zljgeared throufglisuitable :gearing 22, 23 tothe shaft 2d of turbine -5 anv operating pilot valve 2.5,* and anoperating cylinderZlintheQform of a hydraulicfmotor in the ?:1isipladelinent of v operating is' controfllued lpilot ynfalve 25.

supported at an intermediate point by a fulcrum 32. The right-hand end of lever 3l is connected by a link 33 to the right-hand end of an operating lever 34, an intermediate point of which is pivoted to the upper end oi spindle 35 of pilot valve 25. Pilot valve 25 includes a casing 3B open at its lower end and defining an inlet port 31, an outlet port 3B, and a supply port 39 connected by a conduit 4B to port 28 of operating cylinder 25. The flow of pressure fluid to and from operating cylinder 26 is controlled by a movable valve member having an upper valve head 4l, and a lower valve head 42, both connected to spindle 35 and slidably arranged within casing 35.

The left-hand end of lever 34 forms a forked yoke 43 through which passes the governing rod 44 of speed governor 2l. At its upper end, rod 44 is provided with a head member 45 which during normal operation engages the upper surface of yoke 43. Rod 44 also has a freely slidable collar 45 biased upwardly by a spring 41 seated against a fixed member 48 so as to engage the lower surface of yoke 43.

Under normal operating conditions an increase in turbine speed causes outward m-ovement of the flyweights of speed governor 2l whereby rod 44 and yoke 43 of operating lever 3'4 move downwardly causing downward movement of stem 35 Iand valve heads 4I, 42 of pilot valve 25. The downward movement of head 4I uncovers port 39 from the top to permit the discharge through port 38 of a portion of the pressure uid beneath piston 29 of operating cylinder 25 so that piston 29 moves downwardly. Downward movement of piston 29 causes turbine inlet valves 5, 1 to move towards the closed position thereby decreasing the supply nof elastic uid to turbine and efiecting a resultant decrease in turbine speed. Simultaneously, the downward movement of piston 29 causes counterclockwise turning movement of follow-up lever 3| about fulcrum 32 thus raising the right-hand end of lever 34 which in turn raises pilot valve stem 35 so as to restore head 4I to its original in-line position relative to port 39.

Similarly, a decrease in turbine speed causes inward movement of the governor iiyweights resulting in an upward movement of rod 44, the left-hand end of lever 34, pilot valve stem 35 and valve heads 4I, 42. Upward movement of head 4l uncovers port 39 from the bottom thereby communicating pressure fluid inlet port 31 with the pressure chamber of operating cylinder 25. Thus, piston 29 is moved upwardly causing an opening movement of inlet valves 3, 1 and a resultant increase in turbine speed. The upward movement of piston 29 causes la simultaneous clockwise turning movement of follow-up lever 3| about fulcrum 32 which lowers the right-hand end of level` 34. The downward movement of the right-hand end of lever 34 in turn causes stem 35 to be moved downwardly so that head 4I is restored to its normal in-line position relative to port 39 thereby shutting ofi the supply of pressure fluid to piston 29.

In connection with elastic fluid turbines employed as prime movers it is customary to provide an emergency overspeed device usually in the form of a centrifugally actuated governor connected to the turbine shaft which at a predetermined speed will trip out causing the sto-pvalve to be actuted so as to be immediately closed and thereby shut oir the supply of elastic iiuid to the turbine. The turbine 5 of the present example is provided with two such emergency overspe'ed governors 49 and 50 each of which is separately adapted to actuate emergency trip valves 5l, 52 which in turn control the supply of operating liquid to the hydraulic motors 53 and 54 of stop-valves l2 and I3.

Emergency governors 49 and 59 may be any one of several known types. A suitable form is of the type illustrated having a trip rod 55 with a piston 55 at the radially inward end thereof which is slidably arranged within a chamber 51 Iand retained therein under normal operating speeds by a spring 58. Spring 58 is seated at one end against a threaded plug 59 and at the opposite end against head 58. Plug 59 has a central opening 60 through which rod 55 passes in freely slidable relation therewith. During normal speed operation of turbine 5, the retaining force exerted on rod 55 by spring 5S is sufficient to overcome centrifugal force, but at a predetermined overspeed such as 110% normal rated speed, the centrifugal force exerted outwardly on rod 55 is suicient to overcome the aforementioned spring force and rod 55 moves outwardly or trips For testing purposes, either governor 49 or 5 may be tripped, at will, as for instance by actuating valves Gla or 62a to supply liquid under pressure, by way of coaxial bores 6l, 62 in shaft 24, to the respective pistons 55.

Positioned adjacent emergency governors 49, 58 and adapted to be actuated thereby, lare latches 33, B4 which are pivotally supported about intermediate points and biased by springs 65, B so as to engage and retain the valve stems 61, 6B of emergency trip valves 5l and 52, respectively. It will be apparent that the stop valves may also be tripped, regardless of turbine speed, by manually rotating the latches B3, 54.

Trip valves 5l, 52 are of the well known three way type and include casings 69 defining central axial chambers closed by head members 10 through which stems 61, B8 pass in freely slidable relation therewith. Casings 59 further dene iiuid inlet ports 1l communicated with a pressure fluid supply (not shown) by conduits 11a, uid outlet ports 12 communicated with a suitable reservoir (not shown) by conduits 12a and operating ports 13, the latter of which communicate with hydraulic motors 53, 54 of stop valves I2, I3 by means of conduits 14, 15. The flow of pressure fluid to and from valves 5|, 52 is controlled by movable valve members, each having an upper head 16, and a lower head 11, and each being biased downwardly by a coil spring 13 which is seated against head member 10 at one end and against'valve head 15 at the other end. f

A further safety feature is provided'in the form of an emergency cylinder 19 having a casing 83 dening a fluid chamber 8l which is closed yat its upper end by a cylinder head 82. Chamber 8| contains a movable plunger 83 connected to a stem 84 which passes through a central opening formed in cylinder head.82. 'At its upper end Stem 84 is provided with a head 85 forming an elongated slot which cooperates with a pin 86 provided in operating lever 34 to form a lost motion connection therewith. Plunger 83 is biased downwardly by a coil spring 81 against pressure fluid in chamber 8| which is supplied from an external source (not shown) through a third emergency trip valve 88, conduit 89, valve 89a and a normally open manually controlled holding valve 90 having an operating handle 9i biased to the open position by a spring 92.

-rTrip --valve 88 is. similar.; in; ,tof-j valves k Il, 52 (like-4. members. representing, like parts) and like! the latterfis nrmallyzmaintaned `inan extreme position asshownin'Fig. .lp'byfmeans 'ofA a spring biased pivote'd latch.. bzwhich vin turn is adaptedto be actuatedlby. an. emergency governor such asV 49.

During normal. operation, .stop valves` I2;. I3fare theturbine, centrifugalY force 'Will causev rodf55 of"v emergency governors `49', `519..t o Jmove outwardly arid-trip latches 93, 94- therebyf'releasing.stems 91,168 of trip valves 5`I, 52. Oncereleased; st'ems y however, here "it .sinceemersencr .cylinder .1.9i Centraline 2118-911- vbine inlet., .valre s aoyerning. mechanism .1.5. also adapted@ .beatnatdq br mergengy governor closedv before emergency governor 49` istripped V.sc that `,there is no loss ofpressure fluid maintaining. emersenr icvlinder. 1.91.91. the'. bpeeing jposition shown in Fig. 1. lt willbe, apparent that .whenemrsencysovernor 99ima111ia11y tripped 61-,"98' under the influence of biasing springs 18...

move downwardlyuntil upperhea'd` members ..16 cover inlet ports 1I'and lower" head members'11 uncover outlet ports 12..v Stopvalves I2, |13 may now close, biased by 'springsf53a,`54a, 'since the operating fluid sup-plied tov hydraulic motors 53;..

54 and maintaining valves I2, I3-in the openl position, exhausts. through ports "12' and' conduits 12a toa reservoir (not shown).

Simultaneously, latch 88h' isft'rippedi: by emer- Ygencyl governor 49, thereby, releasingstm 88a.. of trip valve 88 to the end thatoper'ating'luid from beneath piston' 83in chamb'erwll of emergency cylinder 19 is discharged through 'outlet port 12 (valve 88) Heavy spring 81 then causes downward movement of piston 83 and stem 84 whereupon the upper end of the slot in head 85 engages pin 89 causing counterclockwise movement of operating lever 34'about;linkv 3.3 cornpressing lighter spring Hand lowering stem 35 and valve heads 4I, 42 oflpilot'valve 25. lThey .downward movement ofuheadl uncovers' port 39 from the top to permit the'discharge-'through port 38 of the pressure fluidl beneath piston 29 of operating cylinder 28 so that the spring 39 moves piston 29 downwardly closing turbine inlet valves Ii, 1 as described hereinbefore.

Thus, it may be observed that a two way safety feature is provided in that both the stop valves and turbine inlet valves close immediately upon the occurrence of a turbine emergency overspeed condition.

Assuming now that turbine 5 is operating under load and it is desired to test stop valves I2, I3 in accordance with power plant regulations, each Stop valve may be tested independently of the other with substantially no loss of load on turbine 5, by nrst tripping either emergency governor, as for instance by manually rotating latch 64 counterclockwise, or by opening Valve 62a. The tripping of governor 59 causes valve 52 to trip and release fluid from hydraulic motor 53 of stop valve I2 whereupon the latter closes shutting off the supply of steam to turbine 5 through branch conduit I9. Meanwhile, however, the operation of turbine 5 continues uninterrupted since stop valve I3 remains in the open position thus permitting a continuous supply of steam through conduits II and Ila to operate turbine 5 at a slightly lower eiciency due to the increased pressure drop of the steam passing through the single stop-valve I3. Valve 15a in conduit 15 may then be closed, stem 68 of trip valve 52 relatched to uncover inlet port 1I, and valve 15a reopened to open stop-valve I2. Substantially, the same procedure may then be followed in connection with emergency governor 49 to test stop-valve I3,

-. duits.. 89 93, and 93a.

vishedgbetween conduit 8 9 andeitherconduit 93 or 93d byv a; cutout portion or groove Vlli formed in a-n internal rotatable valve member 91 adapted to closestop-valve I3 thus cutting off the steam vsupply through Aconduitl I, stopvalve I 2- remains in the open positiontherebr permitting@ .00ntinuousl supply ofoperating steam to turbine 5 through conduifsjland I0a..

. .I11..Fig.12 there .isshown a .modication 0i the .apparatus `of Fig. l wherein thethircltrip valve `i139; controlling' emergency cylinder .19- and hold- .ing.,valve 90, conduit 89 are omitted. Here vinstead,.emergencycylinder 19 may be communicated. toganoperating fluid controlled by either trip valye15-l orf52. Each-conduit .14-and15 (communicatingf hydraulic motors 53, 54 with associ- ,ated tripvalves 5I, 52),- has a` respectivebranch conduit93; and 93a, either of vwhich may be `selectivelycommunicated with conduit 89 by [means of;` a three-wayvalve v9.4. Valve 94 may beI anyone of several known types and" in the presenti embodiment includes ai housing 95 delining three ports having connected thereto con- Qommunication is estabtobeactuatedby an operatinghandle 98 between two,` stops 99, lill).v As shown Yin Fig. 2, when handlei9.8 isrpositioned at' stop 99, passage96 establishes communication between conduits V 89 andv 93a while. clockwise movement o f handle 98 to.. stop .|99 causes,l passage .9;6 to establish communication between conduits 89 and 93. During normal operation, handle 98 is biased to stop 99 by a spring I0 I, thus insuring constant communication between emergency cylinder 'I9 and trip valve 52.

With the modified apparatus shown in Fig. 2, the procedure for testing stop valves I2 and I3 is substantially the same as that followed in connection with the apparatus of Fig. l. When valve handle 98 is positioned at stop 99 as shown in Fig. 2, stop valve I3 may be tested to close by tripping emergency governor 49 thereby actuating trip valve 5I to release operating fluid from hydraulic motor 54. Meanwhile, the turbine inlet valve governing mechanism and consequently inlet valves 6, 1 remain unaifected since emergency cylinder 19 is then controlled by trip valve 52, which is in turn controlled by emergency governor 50. Even though stop-valve I3 is closed, stop-valve I2 remains open so that steam is continuously supplied to operate turbine 5 through conduits I9 and Illa. Then after relatching stem 91 of trip valve 5I and reopening stop-valve I3 as described hereinbefore in connection with Fig. 1, valve handle 98 may be moved to stop |90 and stop-valve I2 tested to close by tripping emergency governor 59 to actuate trip valve 52 thereby releasing operating lluid from hydraulic motor 53. Here again the turbine inlet valve governing mechanism remains undisturbed since emergency cylinder 19 is now controlled by trip valve 5I as controlled by emergency governor 49. With stop-valve I2 thus closed, operating steam is supplied to turbine through open stop-valve I3 and conduits II and Ila.

Thus it will be observed that the present invention makes it possible to test the stop valves of a power plant in a manner such that operation of the turbine is continuous with substantially no loss of load.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those familiar with the art that various changes and modications may be made without departing from the invention; and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A powerplant comprising an elastic fluid turbine with at least one governing valve controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto and speed responsive servo means for positioning said valve, rst and second conduits for supplying motive fluid in parallel to the governing valve, a normally open stop valve in each of said conduits, rst and second emergency overspeed governors connected to effect closing of said respective stop valves at a preselected speed, and means for separately eiecting closing of either stop valve at a lower speed, whereby either stop valve may be closed for testing without interrupting the supply of motive fluid through the other conduit.

2. A powerplant comprising an elastic fluid turbine with at least one governing valve for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto and speed responsive servo mechanism for positioning said valve, first and second conduits for supplying motive fluid in parallel to the governing valve, a normally open stop valve in each of said conduits, rst and second emergency overspeed governors connected to effect closing of the respective stop valves at a preselected speed, means for separately effecting closing of either Y aeimnss stop valve at a lower speed, emergency servo mechanism connected to one of the overspeed governors and arranged to cause the governing mechanism to close the governing valve upon occurrence of an emergency overspeed condition, and means for rendering said emergency servo mechanism ineffective, whereby either stop valve may be closed for testing independently of the other without closing the inlet valve and without interrupting the flow of motive iluid thereto through the other conduit.

3. A powerplant comprising an elastic uid turbine having at least one governing valve for controlling the admission of motive uid thereto and speed responsive servo mechanism for positioning said valve, irst and second conduits in parallel for supplying motive iluid to the governing Valve, a normally open stop valve in each 0f said parallel conduits, emergency overspeed governor means connected to effect closing o-f said stop valves at a preselected speed, means for separately effecting closing of either stop valve at a lower speed, emergency servo mechanism connected to the overspeed governor means and arranged to cause the governing mechanism to close the inlet valve upon occurrence of an emergency overspeed condition, and means for rendering said emergency servo mechanism ineffective whereby either stop valve may be closed for testing while the other stop valve and the governing valve remain open for continuous supply of motive uid to the turbine through the other conduit.

JOHN H. DORAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,494,959 Kramer May 20, 1924 2,158,108 Deglon May 16, 1939 

